The Jon Corzine and Charles Kushner partnership seems to have made its way down the memory hole. Kushner you may remember is the Jim McGreevey backer that pled guilty last year to 18 federal crimes that included: making illegal campaign contributions, lying to the Federal Election Commission, tax fraud, hiring prostitutes and using videotapes to try to entrap his brother-in-law to stop him from cooperating with the Feds.

Senator Corzine was “teaming up“ with Kushner, as late as last year, to buy the New Jersey Nets basketball team. Senator Lautenberg was mighty chummy with Kushner too, based upon this account from USA Today.

Democratic Sen. Jon Corzine is teaming up with a prominent developer on a potential bid to buy the New Jersey Nets basketball team to keep it from relocating to New York, according to Corzine's home-state Senate colleague [Frank Lautenberg].

In a phone conversation with developer Charles Kushner on Tuesday, New Jersey Sen. Frank Lautenberg said the real estate mogul confirmed that he and Corzine were exploring the purchase of the team.

"They'd be excellent owners, both Jon Corzine and Charlie Kushner," Lautenberg said. "The biggest protection for us is to have owners who are committed to (keeping) the team."

Obviously the Corzine – Kushner partnership came darn close to becoming the owners of the Nets.

Bruce C. Ratner, the developer who wants to move the New Jersey Nets to downtown Brooklyn, reached an agreement yesterday to buy the team for $300 million, defeating a similar offer by Charles Kushner and Senator Jon S. Corzine, the team said.

Let's hope as the 2005 campaign gets underway, the MSM will remind the voters about Corzine's ties with Kushner and the other corrupt Democrat Party leaders. Okay hope springs eternal.